


If we take our time, and we stick together

by BandGeek727



Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Blood, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Major Character Injury, Torture, Whump, Whumptober 2019, it's minor but it's there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2020-12-16 07:29:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21032513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BandGeek727/pseuds/BandGeek727
Summary: No matter what comes next, we'll be okayDaiken for Whumptober 2019





	1. Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to archive all the drabbles I've been doing on tumblr for whumptober. This was a way for me to break out of my creative slump. I've missed a few days, but I've really been enjoying it so far!
> 
> I'll put triggers for each chapter in the notes at the end, though a lot of them will probably be obvious from the prompt.
> 
> This first one ended up being a little more fluffy than whumpy ^^;

Daisuke held up the ring with shaky hands.

Ken gasped. “Dai…”

“I know, I know, it’s not much. Bein’ an aspiring noodle cart owner doesn’t exactly pay great, you know?” Daisuke laughed nervously. The ring almost slipped from his fingers. “And I know… I know this doesn’t… I mean, i-it’s not like we can actually get… not legally, anyway, s-so it’s not like it even really matters…”

“Daisuke.” Ken knelt in front of his partner, covering the redhead’s trembling hands with his own. He carefully pulled the ring from Daisuke’s shaky grasp and slipped it onto his left ring finger. Daisuke’s eyes filled with tears as Ken leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead.

“It matters,” Ken whispered. “It matters to me.”


	2. Gunpoint

Daisuke knew this could happen.

He knew, logically, that Ken’s job was dangerous. He knew Ken was putting himself in harm’s way to help others.

That still didn’t prepare him for seeing Ken held at gunpoint.

Everyone in the ramen shop was glued to the TV screen, which currently showed a live feed of Detective Ichijouji, his hands held placatingly in front of him, talking to a man who had a gun trained at his head.

Daisuke was leaning so far over the counter it was cutting into his stomach, his knuckles white as they gripped the edge. The man with the gun appeared to be shouting at Ken, shaking his head furiously. Stingmon was locked in a fight with a Kuwagamon, presumably the gunman’s digimon. What had happened to Ken’s gun? Why didn’t he have it?

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that Ken was in trouble, and Daisuke wasn’t there.

Daisuke’s mind whirled. His digivice was in his jacket, hung up in the breakroom. Veemon was back at the apartment. How fast could he get back there? How fast could they get to Ken? Few creatures could beat Lighdramon on foot, but if the streets were closed off would it be better to fly?

If didn’t matter. He’d find a way. He tore his eyes from the screen and pushed away from the counter, ready to sprint for the breakroom.

The gun went off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Gun use


	3. Dragged Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy this one got away from me

They were no match for Alphamon.

Despite Daisuke’s ability to create miracles, despite Ken’s unwavering faith in his partner, in his friends, they had all fallen.

When Ken came to, he was being dragged across a smooth, metal floor.

The person dragging him had a long, even stride. Footsteps echoed around the space, wherever they were.

Ken forced his eyes open. He found himself looking up a nondescript metal ceiling. A quick glance around offered no further clues to his whereabouts. Was he still in the Digital World? It seemed likely… he couldn’t imagine he’d be dragged along so roughly if someone from the real world had come and saved him. His hands seemed to be bound, and his arms ached from where they were stretched above his head. There was a splitting pain in his side, and his head spun. One of his legs stuck out at an unnatural angle.

He tried to twist around to see his captor, hissing from the pain in his side. Carefully, he tipped his head backwards.

“G-Gennai-san?!!”

The person carrying him looked down and smiled.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Ken’s mind reeled. The figure looked like Gennai, sounded like Gennai, but the voice was all wrong, low and smooth and filled with malice. The eyes were wrong too; they held none of Gennai’s warmth and mischief, and the smile was sly rather than sincere.

The person who looked like Gennai stopped. Ken couldn’t tell what he was doing, but there was a series of soft beeps and then the sound of a door whooshing open. Ken found himself dragged forward once more, too exhausted and disoriented to try and resist.

Gennai came to a halt and dropped Ken’s arms unceremoniously, his footsteps echoing as he walked away. With tremendous effort Ken was able to lower his aching arms in front of him, bringing his hands close to his chest and curling on his side. A gash on his left arm was crusted over with dried blood. His left leg was definitely broken. His side throbbed with a dull pain, but with his hands bound he couldn’t easily check the wound. There was the hum and beeping of machinery behind him, but Ken hardly noticed. Panic flared inside him. Where were the others? What had happened to them? He couldn’t imagine they were in much better condition than him.

And the digimon? The last thing he remembered was Paildramon dissolving into particles of light.

His stomach heaved. He couldn’t lose Wormmon, not again.

And it wasn’t just him this time. It was Veemon, Hawkmon and Armadimon, Iori, Miyako, Daisuke…

Tears gathered in his eyes and he squeezed them shut, forcing himself to take a deep breath. It would do him no good to panic. If he could keep his wits about him, maybe he could find a way out of this. He _had_ to. He had to find his friends and save them.

Carefully he lifted his head and glanced around. He’d been deposited in the middle of a large, square metal room, dimly lit by a glowing control panel. Not-Gennai was standing in front of it, his fingers dancing over screens and buttons, the meaning of which Ken could only guess at. Beside the control panel stood a metal chair with cuffs on the arms and the headrest.

Ken shuddered to think what that chair might be for. With another deep breath he looked around. There was nothing else in the room, and the only way out appeared to be the hallway from which they’d just come.

Ken closed his eyes. The situation looked dire, but he would find a way out. He had defeated a Mega when he was only eight years old. He had resisted the Dark Spore when he was twelve. He was older now, and wiser, and he could certainly outsmart the strange figure wearing Gennai’s face.

The beeping stopped and footsteps echoed back to him. When Ken opened his eyes, Gennai was crouching in front of him, hands on his knees and that grin on his face.

Ken glared. “What do you want from me?”

Gennai laughed, low and menacing. “Now now, we’ll have none of that, Digimon Kaiser.”

Ken’s blood ran cold. His hands trembled. The back of his neck itched. When he spoke, he couldn’t quite keep his voice from shaking.

“Do _not_ call me that.”

The Gennai clone clicked his tongue. “Of course, of course. You’re not that person anymore. You’ve seen the error of your ways, haven’t you?”

Before Ken could respond, the figure reached over and touched the restraints on his wrists. They clicked open and vanished in a burst of pixels.

Ken blinked. Why would his captor bother releasing him? Was he so foolish… or perhaps so confident in Ken’s inability to fight back? The latter certainly seemed likely; Ken placed his freed hands on the floor beneath him but couldn’t summon the strength to push himself up.

“So, here’s how this is going to work,” Gennai was saying. “I have a plan for this world, and for your world. Everything is in order, except for the final piece.” His tilted his head, and his grin stretched unnaturally. Ken shivered. “You have the missing piece I need, Ichijouji. And you’re going to give it to me.”

The back of Ken’s neck itched again. He resisted the urge to clamp his hand over it and scowled up at his captor, injecting as much venom into his voice as he could when he spat back, “And if I refuse?”

The Gennai lookalike simply smirked at him. He stood and turned in one fluid motion, then snapped his fingers.

A panel at the other end of the room slid open. A pair of Gotsumon entered, but they looked all wrong. Their eyes were glowing red and lifeless, and a dark purple energy swirled around them. Between them they carried…

“Daisuke!”

Daisuke was thrown roughly to the floor. His head jerked up and Ken gasped. Unlike his own wounds, Daisuke’s seemed fresh. He was bleeding from a gash on his shoulder and a blow to his head. Blood was smeared across his face, as if he’d tried to wipe it away. One of his eyes was swollen and blackened. His hands were unbound, but there was a dark metal ring around his neck that made Ken feel sick to his stomach.

“KEN!” Daisuke tried to stand, but the Gotsumon to his left put a hand on his wounded shoulder and slammed him back to the ground, making him howl with pain.

_“Daisuke!”_ Ken pushed himself up and made to dash for his partner, but his broken leg gave out underneath him and he sprawled across the floor.

Daisuke tried to wrench his shoulder free but the Gotsumon pushed harder, pinning his wrist down as will. The Gotsumon on his other side grabbed his right arm and wrenched it behind his back.

Ken’s eyes filled with tears. “Please… please, stop!”

The being who looked like Gennai was laughing. He knelt and grabbed Ken’s chin in one hand, forcing Ken’s face up towards his. “Understand, Ichijouji? You give me what I need, and I won’t have to destroy the Child of Miracles.”

“Let him go, you bastard!” Daisuke growled. “Ken, don’t listen to him!”

Ken watched as Daisuke struggled against the Gotsumon, despite the obvious pain it caused him. Daisuke never stopped fighting, never stopped giving of himself for his friends. He wouldn’t give up, not until his dying breath.

The tears flowed freely down Ken’s face. “I-I _can’t…”_

Gennai sighed. “No? What a shame.” He snapped his fingers.

The Gotsumon twisting Daisuke’s arm heaved him up into a sitting position. The other one dropped Daisuke’s wrist. It moved silently, robotically, as it closed its hands around Daisuke’s throat.

Daisuke gasped, his eyes going wide as he thrashed, his free hand flying up to grip the hands at his throat, but it was useless. Gotsumon were solid rock. Already Daisuke’s face was turning blue.

“STOP IT!” Ken cried, his voice hoarse and ragged. “Stop, please, I-I’ll give you what you want, I’ll do anything, _please!”_

Another snap of Gennai’s fingers and the hands at Daisuke’s throat fell away. The Gotsumon holding his arm released him and he slumped to the floor, gasping and coughing.

“There now, was that so hard, Kaiser?” Gennai asked. He reached down to stroke Ken’s hair. Ken flinched away from the touch.

Daisuke lifted his head. Tears cut through the dirt and blood on his face. “Ken, d-don’t…”

Gennai waved his hand. The Gotsumon turned. Each one grabbed one of Daisuke’s legs and dragged him away, back the way they had come.

“Wait!” Daisuke cried. He reached out his hand, his fingers splayed. “Ken!”

“Dai-!” Ken reached back, praying for a miracle, willing the distance between them to close.

Gennai grabbed his outstretched arm and wrenched it behind him, making Ken cry out as he was dragged away across the room.

“NO!” Daisuke shouted. “Let him go! Ken, please… Ken-!”

Daisuke’s pleas were cut off as the wall panel slid seamlessly back into place, but Ken could still hear his voice fading as he was taken away.

“Please,” Ken sobbed, all trace of defiance drained from his voice. “Please, I’m doing what you want, y-you said you wouldn’t hurt him!”

“Did I?” Gennai’s wicked grin was back. “Interesting… I seem to recall promising only not to destroy him.”

Ken had only a moment to ponder the horrifying implications of those words before he was lifted and thrown roughly into the metal chair. He gripped the armrests instinctually and the cuffs clamped down on his wrists. The third cuff secured itself around his head, holding him fast against the back of the chair.

His heart was pounding in his ears. Daisuke’s voice echoed distantly back at him.

Gennai was back at the control panel. He tapped out some kind of sequence, then, seemingly satisfied, he glanced back up at Ken. His eyes were wide, his grin manic.

A needle pressed into the skin at the back of Ken’s neck.

The Spore burned.

Ken screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, torture, choking, needles
> 
> You know Gennai could have just thrown Ken in the chair right from the start, he just enjoys torturing people.
> 
> I started whumptober to break my writer’s block, and it seems to be working! It’s been a long ass time since I was able to just sit down and write, but this whole prompt came so easily. It feels amazing to be able to write like this again.
> 
> Also eff digimon tri.


	4. Isolation

“So… you wanna tell me why I haven’t seen my best friend in two weeks?”

Daisuke’s only response was the steady thrum of rain against the window.

He sighed heavily, leaning back against Ken’s desk and running a hand through his hair. Ken sat beside him, his knees drawn up to his chest, his face buried in his arms. Chibimon had convince Minomon to give them some space. Knowing the baby dragon he was probably in the kitchen trying to mooch treats from Ken’s mother.

“I just… I’m worried about you, man. Minomon told Chibimon you’re not sleeping. And your mom says you haven’t been eating well.”

Ken flinched at those words. Daisuke leaned over, trying to look into his friend’s face.

“Y-you shouldn’t… they shouldn’t have to worry about me,” Ken whispered.

“But they do! We all do, because we care about you!”

Ken merely shook his head. Daisuke sighed and slumped back against the desk.

“Look, I’m gonna worry either way, so you might as well tell me.”

Patience had never been Daisuke’s strong suit. But he forced himself to wait, and it did, in fact, pay off, when Ken finally started speaking again.

“I-I’ve been… having these… thought, lately. Thoughts about… about before, when…”

Daisuke nodded, even though Ken couldn’t see him. He liked to thing Ken understood, because he seemed to know he didn’t need to clarify what ‘before’ meant.

“I just… Sometimes I feel like nothing is ever going to get better. Like however many times I try, these memories will always come back to haunt me. I thought… I thought I was _over_ this, but I feel just as bad as I did then and that makes me think… Why should I ever bother trying, if nothing’s ever going to change?”

Daisuke leaned forward on his hands and knees. “Is that why you’ve been isolating yourself?”

Ken hugged his knees closer. “This is my problem. You shouldn’t have to deal with it. I don’t… I don’t want to burden you with it.”

“But you’re not a burden, Ken!” Ken looked up and Daisuke’s heart broke to see the tears in his eyes. “You’re my friend, and I _want_ to help you! But nothing really is gonna change if you just lock yourself in your room every day. Like I said, I’m gonna worry either way, whether you like it or not… that’s just a part of friendship, Ken! So just… please, don’t do this to yourself. Let me… let me help you, will you?”

For a long time, Ken only stares up at him. Then slowly, he unfolds, lifting his head and stretching his legs. He reaches out and take the hand Daisuke offers him.

“Okay,” he says. He smiles, a small, trembling thing. It’s a start. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not the happiest with this one, but there you go
> 
> I did want to explore different types of whump, not just the physical.
> 
> It’s a bit more hurt/comfort than whump though, whoopsie doodles


	5. Stab Wound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's probably my favorite so far, along with Dragged Away

The piercing whir of Digmon’s drill fills their hiding place. Digmon and Stingmon can tear through metal like it’s nothing; the drawer will not provide them shelter for long.

“Oh man, this is bad, this is so bad,” Daisuke mutters. He and Veemon are clutching each other tightly as they inch towards the back of the drawer. “Ken, what do we do?”

Ken shakes his head. There’s no trace of the calculating child prodigy in his eyes now. He looks lost and frightened when he turns towards Iori. “No word from the others?”

Iori’s fingers fumble as he opens his D-terminal. “Nothing,” he says. “M-maybe I can-“

A sharp crack cuts through his words. Digmon breaks through the front of the drawer, wood splintering and falling away from the tips of his drills. Together he and Stingmon rip chunks of the drawer away until the gap is wide enough for them to squeeze through. Now that the drills have stopped spinning, they can hear Archnemon’s song in the distance.

Daisuke and Veemon yelp and scramble backwards. Iori falters at the sight of his partner glaring down at him with glowing red eyes.

Ken, incredibly, steps forward.

“Stingmon, please, stop this!”

Ken’s actions seem to spur Daisuke into motion as well. He lets go of Veemon, straightening up and marching across the drawer, “Ken, what are you doing?!”

“Daisuke, wait!” Iori reaches out and grabs Daisuke’s arm as he stalks past, pulling him back.

Ken stops in front of Stingmon. The insect digimon’s eyes cast an eerie red glow around the cramped space as he gazes impassively down at his partner. Beside him, Digmon’s drills begin to whir back to life.

“Stingmon… It’s me! I’m your partner, your friend, don’t you… don’t you know me?”

There is a moment of tension so thick it smothers all sound, all thought, all action.

Then Stingmon’s eyes narrow.

“Ken-!”

_“Spiking Strike!”_

A flash of purple blinds them all.

When the light dies away, Stingmon’s wrist blade is buried in Ken’s chest.

The insect monster straightens, pulling his weapon free with a horrible squelch. Ken falls to his knees, his hands coming up to his chest. His eyes are wide and glassy, his jaw slack.

“NO!” Daisuke runs to Ken’s side and Iori lets him go, lets him slip out of his grasp to cover his mouth with his hands.

Neither of them notice that Archnemon’s song has changed. It sounds distorted, as though it were being played backwards underwater.

Digmon notices. He shakes his head as if to dispel some errant thought. “Whoa, what’s goin’ on? How’d we end up in this drawer?”

“KEN!”

Stingmon drops to his knees in front of his partner, his clawed hands hovering anxiously. “Ken, oh no, Ken! What happened?”

Ken shudders weakly as he slumps against Daisuke. His jogress partner has one arm wrapped firmly around his shoulders, his free hand tugging Ken’s hands away from his wound, begging Ken to let him see, please, _let him see!_

Not that it makes much difference. Ken’s front is drenched with blood. When Daisuke finally pushes Ken’s hands aside, they are slick and red.

A flash of white light fills the drawer. Wormmon appears, crawling towards his partner as large tears spill down his face. “Ken-chan, Ken-chan! What’s going on? Talk to me, please, Ken-chan!”

Ken’s eyes seem to focus. He smiles weakly down at his partner. “I-it’s okay,” he whispers, even though it clearly isn’t, and when he coughs blood trails from his lips.

Veemon rushed across the drawer and draws Wormmon into a hug. Digmon moves to stand next to his partner. “Iori, what happened?” he asks, visibly shaken.

Iori’s legs give out beneath him and he falls to his knees. His hands won’t stop shaking.

“Ken, come on, don’t… st-stay with me, _please,”_ Daisuke is saying, pulling Ken tightly against him. He presses his hand against the hole in Ken’s chest; blood runs over his fingers and seeps into his sleeve. He looks up at Veemon, who cradles a wailing Minomon in his arms. “I-it’s okay, guys, he’s gonna be okay! We just need to get him to a doctor, we… we need to…”

Daisuke looks around wildly. His gaze lands on Iori. His voice is frantic and desperate when he shouts “Call the others! We need to get Ken to the Real World, now! Iori, please… h-help me!”

Iori shakes his head as his tears start to fall. Daisuke growls and rounds on his partner, barking at Digmon to go find the others. Leafmon buries his face against Veemon’s chest.

What none of them seem to realize, except for Iori, is that Ken has already stopped breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, character death, mind control
> 
> I was gonna have a random human stab Ken, but I have some ideas for human-related violence for some later prompts and I don’t want them all to be the same
> 
> Then I remembered Stingmon’s laser wrist blades and I was just like ohhh YES that is PERFECT
> 
> This is obviously and alternate ending to “The Insect Master’s Trap.”
> 
> Also this could also cover “Stay With Me,” but we’ll see if I have any further inspiration when that day comes.


	6. Shackled

Ken struggled against the restraints binding his wrists and ankles to the wall. The other person in the room laughed, low and menacing.

“Save your strength, Ichijouji.”

Ken looked up, straining to see into the darkened room. “Daisuke, please, this… this isn’t you!”

“Shut up!” There were footsteps, the swish of a cape, and then Daisuke was standing in front of him, glaring at him from behind tinted glasses. “And do _not_ call me that! I am the Digimon Kaiser!”

Ken shook his head. “Please… I-I don’t know what they told you, but-”

Daisuke’s hand shot out and clamped around his throat. Ken whimpered.

“They told me enough,” Daisuke hissed. His fingers tightened painfully. “And anyway, they wouldn’t need to send me out at all if _you_ hadn’t been too weak to finish what you had started!”

Ken’s vision blurred with tears. He blinked and they spilled out over his cheeks, running down his neck and into the black fabric at his throat.

“Daisuke… please, don’t do this! You have to remember who you are! You’re the leader of the Digidestined, you’re my friend, m-my partner…”

Daisuke’s eyes narrowed. Ken swallowed.

“I-I… I _love_ you…”

Daisuke’s eyes widened. His grip loosened. He swayed on the spot, then…

His body spasmed violently. His hands flew up to clutch at his head as he cried out in pain.

“Daisuke! Are you okay? What’s happening?”

Daisuke’s fingers tightened in his hair. A low growl started in his throat, which grew to a yell as he drew one hand back into a fist. Ken flinched, bracing himself, but Daisuke’s fist slammed into the wall beside his head.

“They warned me about this!” Daisuke said, glaring at Ken with such hatred and rage it stole Ken’s breath away. “They told me you would do anything, try any trick you could think of to compromise me…”

“Daisuke, please…”

“Enough!” Daisuke turned on his heel and strode across the room, his cape swirling around him. “I don’t need to listen to your nonsense. Get comfortable, Ichijouji. I’ll be back to deal with you later.”

Ken squinted as light spilled into the room. For a moment Daisuke was silhouetted in a rectangle of blinding white. Then the door slammed shut, leaving Ken shackled alone with his thoughts.

He didn’t know what they’d done to make Daisuke think he was the Kaiser.

He didn’t know how to get Daisuke back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Kaiser is just so ripe for angst material.


	7. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm way behind, folks o-o

“I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to be. I mean, yeah, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to come home to.” Ken winced. Daisuke gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “But I don’t want you to beat yourself up over it.”

Ken bit his lip as he glanced down at their hands, joined together between them. Daisuke sighed heavily and pulled Ken tighter against him. Ken’s hands trembled where they lay curled loosely against Daisuke’s chest. For a long moment the only sound was the gentle thrum of rain against their bedroom window. Daisuke slid his thumbs back and forth along Ken’s wrists, feeling his pulse, slow and steady, beneath freshly wrapped bandages.

“I just…I just thought I was finally _over_ this.” Ken’s voice was a broken, shaky whisper.

“I don’t think this is the kinda thing you ever really get over.”

Ken shook his head. “I was doing so good, though. I-I mean, I haven’t… I’ve gone _so long_ without-”

“That’s right. And next time you’ll go even longer.” Ken looked up at the fierce determination in Daisuke’s voice. “I get it. It happened, and it sucks that it happened. But you can beat yourself up about it or you can get up and keep trying to be better.”

Ken’s eyes were wide and vulnerable as he stared up at his partner. Finally, slowly, he nodded.

It was a start. Daisuke leaned forward an pressed a kiss against Ken’s forehead. His fingers trailed down along Ken’s arms, gently tracing over thin white scars, old and faded, from when the two of them were no more than frightened teenagers facing a world so much bigger and scarier than they could ever imagine.

“I’m here for you, Ken,” Daisuke whispered. “I’ll always be here for you.”

Ken disentangled their fingers so he could wrap his arms around Daisuke’s waist. “I know,” he said, pressing his face against Daisuke’s chest. “I know. Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Scars, implied/referenced self harm.
> 
> Recovery is a journey. Relapse is part of the process.
> 
> Be kind to yourself. <3


End file.
